Russian state TV host takes victory lap after Durham report released

Russian state television host Vladimir Soloviev celebrated on camera in a one-minute monologue after Durham’s report was released on Monday.

Solovyov applauded special counsel John Durham’s conclusion that the FBI should never have investigated allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election while criticizing America as a “dishonest nation”.

Durham’s report found the FBI had no evidence of collusion before launching its Crossfire Hurricane investigation into whether former President Donald Trump and Russia conspired to influence the 2016 election. which plunged at the time of the allegations, have only gotten worse since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Earlier this week, Durham released a report saying the FBI should not have launched the investigation into Trump and Russia in a disputed decision that Republicans see as evidence of FBI errors and corruption.

“It turns out the Russians were telling the truth again,” Solovyov said. “For all these years, America has been lying. Turns out a separate investigation was needed to say ‘sorry, guys’.”

Solovyov went on to say that America is “a civilization built on lies and a totally bogus community.”

Just before Trump took office in late December 2016, then-President Barack Obama’s administration imposed a series of sanctions on Russian intelligence services for their alleged interference in the Democratic National Committee. Obama also expelled 35 Russian agents from the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC and the Russian Consulate in San Francisco.

“Now what, guys? Are you going to return the properties? Are you going to cancel the sanctions and apologize? Turns out everything the West said about this is a lie,” Solovyov said.

Newsweek contacted Putin’s press office by email for comment.

After Solovyov’s monologue, the show’s contributors explained how beneficial the Durham Report is to Republicans.

“What Durham published is the truth,” said Andrey Sidorov, dean of the Faculty of Global Politics at Moscow State University.

However, Sidorov added that the report will have no criminal consequences and that Durham does not provide an example of how to “punish the FBI”.

The discussion then turned to Trump, who made multiple allegations of corruption within the FBI. Soloviev said Trump was verbally attacked for making the claims, but the Durham Report is proof he had reason to believe the claim.

Newsweek contacted Trump’s campaign by email for comment.

“It’s all a lie from start to finish,” Solovyov said of the investigation into Russian interference. “How do you know an American is lying? His lips move.